As someone whose primary transportation mode is walking, I wish sneakers were designed more like cars. When your car's tires wear out, you pop them off and install new ones (or remold them if they're expensive); but every eight months I have to toss an entire pair of kicks because the treads are gone, and there's nothing for it. No local business I know of will re-sole a $100 pair of running shoes.

Rock climbing shoes are a different story, as they can be resoled and repaired. Places like The Gear Fix, which is three hours south of Core77's Portland HQ in the city of Bend, Oregon, make their living by repairing outdoor gear: bikes, climbing equipment, ski equipment, camping stoves, backpacking gear, and yes, climbing kicks. And re-soling the latter does not look easy, as it's a blend of art and science. An anonymous TGF employee undergoing an apprenticeship on how to do half-soles posted a video showing the process:

There isn't much actual material used, but just look at all of the equipment required, from the wooden inserts to the hand tools to the machinery to the cool little floor-stands. Then there's the learning time, of course; the unnamed apprentice in the video had been at it for about five months prior to shooting it. So how much do you think it costs for a job like that? I was well surprised by the low price: "Basically $35 for a pair of soles," writes the shop, "and $10 each if you need the rands / toe caps replaced." That's nuts.

A couple of climbing shoe notes:

- If you're wondering why this particular repair is half-sole and not full-sole, the area you see being replaced—from the ball of the foot to the toe—is where most of the wear typically occurs in a climbing shoe.

- The "rands" refers to the parts of rubber above the sole, like the "sidewalls" of the toe, for instance.

1 Comment

As someone who has resoled their climbing shoes a few times, the dedication to detail and precision shown in the video above is paramount for an effective resole. When you buy a new pair of shoes, the rubber is molded in a very specific profile to maximize grip at the toes and sides of the feet. These points wear down very quickly (I've had to resole after just 2 months of use), and there's this common viewpoint that a resoled shoe will never have the same grip and feel of a new shoe.
I agreed with this point until I paid for a higher-quality resole from Rock-n-resole. They take the time to shape and carve the new rubber so that it joins cleanly to the existing material and holds an edge like a new shoe.
All this to say, I'm glad to see that this process is getting noticed for the artform that it is.
As far as the low pricing, I think its mainly because the material cost is almost nothing. The new sole piece is just slab of grippy rubber and some glue. The labor is precise but I wouldn't say its all that taxing on the worker. Or it could just be that the laid-back, helping hand attitude of the climbing community extends to service pricing.
Either way, I'm happy that I don't have to spend $170 on a new pair every few months.

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